Most TikTok users won't convert on their first interaction with your brand. They might watch your video, visit your website, or add a product to their cart—then scroll away. TikTok retargeting lets you bring these warm audiences back with targeted ads that speak directly to their previous actions.
In this guide, you'll learn how to set up TikTok remarketing campaigns, the different audience types available, and strategies that consistently drive conversions at lower costs than prospecting campaigns.
TikTok retargeting (also called remarketing) allows you to show ads to users who have already interacted with your brand. These could be website visitors, app users, video viewers, or customers from your CRM database.
According to recent industry data, retargeting campaigns in 2026 deliver an average 4.2x ROAS—up from 4.0x in 2024. This makes retargeting one of the highest-ROI tactics available to advertisers.
Retargeting is effective because you're reaching people who already know your brand:
TikTok's Ads Manager guidance indicates that over 50% of ad spend from top advertisers goes to campaigns using custom audience segments.
TikTok offers several custom audience types for retargeting. Here's what you can use:
Created using the TikTok Pixel, these audiences include:
Pro tip: Cart abandoners are one of the highest-converting retargeting audiences. These users showed strong purchase intent but didn't complete the transaction.
Target users based on how they've interacted with your TikTok content:
TikTok reports that creator-led ads drive 70% higher click-through rates and 159% higher engagement rates—making video viewer audiences particularly valuable for retargeting.
Upload your own customer data to find matches on TikTok:
Minimum requirement: TikTok requires at least 1,000 matched users for custom audiences to function properly. Quality matters more than size—a clean list of high-intent leads outperforms a massive list of low-quality contacts.
For mobile app advertisers, you can retarget based on:
If you're selling through TikTok Shop, you can target users based on:
Here's how to create retargeting campaigns on TikTok:
The TikTok Pixel is essential for website-based retargeting. According to industry experts, campaigns without proper pixel tracking waste ad budget due to lack of optimization data.
Installation options:
Key events to track:
Use the TikTok Pixel Helper Chrome extension to verify your pixel is firing correctly.
In TikTok Ads Manager:
Create a new campaign with your conversion objective, then at the ad group level:
Different audiences require different messaging. Here are proven strategies:
Audience: Users who added to cart but didn't purchase
Messaging approach:
Example CTA: "Forget something? Here's 10% off to finish your order."
Audience: Users who watched 50%+ of your TikTok videos
Messaging approach:
Audience: Site visitors segmented by recency
Messaging approach:
Audience: Past purchasers who haven't bought recently
Messaging approach:
Always create exclusion audiences for:
This prevents wasting budget on users who already converted and improves customer experience.
Track these metrics to evaluate retargeting performance:
| Metric | What It Measures | Benchmark |
|---|---|---|
| ROAS | Revenue per ad dollar spent | 4x+ for retargeting |
| CPA | Cost per acquisition | 15-30% lower than prospecting |
| Conversion Rate | % of clicks that convert | 2-3x higher than cold audiences |
| Frequency | Average ad views per user | Keep under 4-5 to avoid fatigue |
| Audience Size | Total users in segment | Minimum 1,000 for stability |
TikTok offers different attribution windows:
For retargeting campaigns, shorter attribution windows often provide more accurate measurement since these users are already familiar with your brand.
When scaling successful retargeting segments, increase budget by no more than 50% at a time to avoid resetting the learning phase.
TikTok requires at least 1,000 matched users for custom audiences to work effectively. If your audience is smaller, focus on building traffic and engagement first before launching retargeting campaigns.
It depends on your sales cycle. For impulse purchases, 7-14 days works well. For considered purchases, extend to 30-60 days. Cart abandonment campaigns typically perform best within the first 7 days.
Yes. You can create engagement custom audiences targeting users who watched 25%, 50%, 75%, or 100% of your TikTok videos. Video viewer audiences are excellent for moving engaged prospects down the funnel.
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